SMG4: The Royal

Chapter 18: Madarame

Joker: Skull, flank left and take out the reinforcements! Panther, you and Mona deal the final blow, I'll distract him.

Shadow: Damn you Phantom Thieves!

The Shadow holds its hands out, and a spear of ice forms. It then throws it towards Mona.

Panther: Oh no you don't! Carmen!

Panther summons her Persona and meets the ice spear with a fireball, melting it.

Mona: Thank you Panther!

She nods at the cat's direction and returns to waiting for your signal.

You look over to see one of the lesser Shadows get sent through a wall from Skull's lightning.

Joker: Good job Skull! Now, my turn.

You pull out a new grappling hook you made a few days ago and throw it up twirls one of the broken railings. Swinging around the room, you kick the Shadow as you pass by and bring back the hook, constricting it.

Joker: Now!

Panther and Mona use their most powerful attacks together. The result ended in a large fire tornado engulfing the Shadow. It reverts back into a woman.

Everyone lands in front of the woman and she stands up, the dark rings around her eyes are clearly seen as she stares at them.

Woman: Don't you kids understand how difficult it is to be a single mother?!

Joker: No, I don't. But what I do understand is that stealing from your co-workers is only causing more damage. They have families too.

Woman: You... you're right. What am I doing? Not only am I hurting other people, what's going to happen to my kids if I get caught?

Skull: Exactly. Life is hard, we get it. But you need to set an example for your kids.

Woman: Thank you, Phantom Thieves.

In a flash of white light, the woman disappeares and in her place was her treasure.

Mona: Nice. Now let's head back.

You nod and grab the treasure.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Saiko: You know, the Shadows in Mementos are actually kind of sad. I mean, they're just everyday people who feel like they have no other choice.

SMG4: Yeah, I feel ya. But they need to learn that their lessons. We don't need anybody like Kamoshida getting their way again.

Y/n: Well, as long as we're around, we won't let that happen. Now, I gotta go meet up with Meggy. I've gotta help her train for her upcoming Splatfest.

SMG4: Oh, let us come with you.

Saiko: Yeah, we could use the practice against Meggy.

Y/n: I'm sure she'll be okay with that. C'mon.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

After going through the warp pipe to Inkopolis, you are immediately greeted by some of the Inklings. Waving back, you make your way to Meggy's house, your friends in tow behind you.

Once you made it, you gently knocked on the door and a few moments later, Meggy opens the door.

Meggy: Y/n, you're done earlier than you said.

Y/n: It helps when you have a reliable team behind you. Oh, they wanted to come help you train as well.

Meggy: That's great! Thank you guys!

And with that, everyone heads to the arena to train. Meggy decided that since there was an even number of people, they would split into teams of two. The first round was you and Meggy against SMG4 and Saiko.

Long story short, they didn't stand a chance.

Next was you and Saiko, and ended it with you and SMG4.

They were both close matches but you and Saiko won round two against Meggy and SMG4, while you and SMG4 lost by a few points during round three against Meggy and Saiko.

SMG4 was a bit pissed that he didn't win at least once.

In the end however, everyone had fun and it was a good stress relief. After putting away your weapons, you decided to head to Mushroon City for lunch. Meggy also had some good news.

Meggy: We won't have to take the smelly warp pipe anymore.

SMG4: For real?

Saiko: Wait, why?

Meggy: Construction was made a few months ago to connect the Inkopolis train station to the Mushroom Kingdom, and they just opened it yesterday!

Y/n: Well let's get going then.

Saiko: Hold up, what about the mental shutdowns?

Y/n: Mental shutdowns?

SMG4: Yeah, they've been happening a lot recently. At one point, someone would be fine, then the next they would just stop functioning all together. Then there's the psychotic breakdowns, where someone would lose it and hurt themselves or other people.

Meggy: It's happened here a few times.

SMG4: However, none of them really happened on trains, so we should be fine.

Saiko: Yeah, and I really don't want to go through that smelly pipe again.

With everyone in agreement and taking safety precautions, you all went to the train station to board the train to the Mushroom Kingdom. Unbeknownst to you, however, there was someone who was watching you.

~~~~~~~~~~

As you walked up the stairs from the station, Saiko kept looking back. When asked, she said that someone was following them.

SMG4: I don't see anyone.

Saiko: Look I know someone is following us.

You keep walking, keeping an eye behind you. You and SMG4 nod to each other and turn a corner to an alleyway and sure enough someone else turned the corner as well. He began walking towards the Saiko, but before he could get close, you and SMG4 turned around and got in front of him, blocking his path. Taking a good look, he was some kind of creature that resembled an axolotl

?: Is there something you want?

Y/n: That's our line! You were the one stalking us!

?: Stalking you? That's outrageous.

Meggy: You've been following us!

?: That's because...

We heard a car pull up and we walked out onto the sidewalk.

? 2: My goodness... I had wondered why you left the car. So this is where your passion led? All is well that ends well.

The man begins laughing.

?: I saw you from the car... and I couldn't help myself from chasing after you. I didn't even notice the calls from sensei... But thank goodness, I caught up to you.

Saiko: Ok...

?: You are the woman I have been searching for all this time! Please, won't you...

Saiko: Hold up now! I have someone else I'm interested in!

?: Be the model for my next art piece!?

Saiko: Huh...?

?: Please, think about it. My name is Axol, and the man in the car is my sensei, Ichiryusai Madarame. He is holding an art exhibit later this week. You can give me your answer then.

Axol leaves and gets in the car, which then drives off.

SMG4: Did you hear that? Madarame!

Meggy: Looks like we know what we're doing later this week.

With plans set to go to this art exhibit, you head to the restaurant for lunch and to talk out how to get dirt on Madarame.